Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

BRISTLY BUTTERCUP

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Ranunculus hispidus Michx. var. hispidus

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-28 inches

Family: Ranunculaceae - Buttercup Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June, July

Also Called:

Hairy buttercup.

Stems:

Erect, stout, bristly-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, 3-foliolate, broadly ovate-cordate in outline, 1 to 5.6 inches long, 1 to 8 inches wide; leaflets ovate to rhombic, 2- or 3-lobed or cleft, irregularly toothed; basal leaves largest; stalks 2 to 12 inches long, bristly-hairy; stem leaves short-stalked upward.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flowers, terminal.

Flowers:

About 1 inch across; sepals 5, yellowish-green, spreading or turned-down, egg-shaped, 1/5 to 1/3 inch long, glabrous or hairy on outer surface; petals commonly 5, rarely to 10, egg-shaped to elliptic, 1/3 to 3/5 inch long, much longer than sepals, yellow, waxy; stamens mostly 40-70.

Fruits:

Achenes, egg-shaped, 1/12 to 1/6 inch long, narrowly winged, beak awl-shaped, nearly straight; 7-60 achenes in spherical head 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Habitat:

Moist or dry, often rocky woods; slopes, crests of hills or ridges, and well-drained uplands; sandstone, chert, igneous; acidic soils.

Distribution:

East 1/6 of Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Toxicity:

When consumed in large quantities, some Ranunculus species cause digestive tract irritation in livestock. Sheep are particularly susceptible.

Uses:

Native Americans used the root to pack into the hole of an aching tooth to break up the tooth. The crushed roots of Ranunculus were used to treat arrow and gunshot wounds and juice from the leaves as a sedative or taken in tea to treat sore throats.

Comments:

From Latin rana "little frog" because many Ranunculus species are found in moist locales.

Bristly buttercup flower